Cross-Country Adventure IV

It felt like we’d done this before.  Probably because we had, three times.  But a few weeks ago we packed up the car (again), said good-bye to family and friends (again), and drove all the way across the country (again).  And the best part is… this isn’t even the last time!  We’re now in Brunswick, GA, way down near the Florida border for the next six months, and then in March we’ll be driving (not as far) back west to Texas.  When we get to Corpus Christi, hopefully we’ll be able to stay in one place for an extended period of time.  Hopefully.  But the great thing is that we got to see some family and familiar places along the way.  So here are a few photos from our cross-country adventure number four!

After crossing through the mountains of Colorado, we drove the long way across Kansas.  But along the way, we stopped at a familiar place to us... Prairie Dog Town! Way back in 2006 when we came this way, we stopped at this off-the-wall, side-of-the-road zoo full of interesting animals, and we figured the boys would appreciate it.  Adam loved the animals, Paul ran from them.

The world's largest Prairie Dog... or so they say.  

And then we stopped at the Miller homestead in Missouri, for the last time.  We'd been there a few times over the years on our back and forth trips, and it's sad to say we won't go back.  The house is sold and they're moving on.  But it was fun to hang out with them again, and we look forward to visiting them wherever they end up next.

 Mo was there... of course.  And as always, like a fish.

 Not getting in the pool with those crazy fools, but I'll dip my feet in for a bit.

One of the last swims of the summer.

 Too much horseplay.

 Drying off on the trampoline.

Ready to jump back in.

And the escape artist, formulating his next big break for it!  Liam and all the Millers are growing up fast, so we're glad we got to catch up with them, and hope it's not too long before the next time.

Our Utah adventure ends...

It’s been a hectic few weeks obviously, and we’re no longer in Utah.  But before we left and made the long drive back across the country to the east coast (again), we spent some time with family.  So I have a few pictures I never got to post of our last few days in Utah and Becky’s trip to Montana.  We’re so thankful for all the time we got to spend with everybody back in the mountain west and are sorry that the time came and went faster than we expected.  We have to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped out, stopped by, and spent time hanging out with us while we were in Utah.   We’re off again jet-setting around the states, but we won’t forget the family and friends back west and we’ll always be planning and hoping for a chance to go back to visit.  So again, thanks to everyone for everything!

Went with the last of the Montana Sellers to the Salt Lake County Fair!  Gotta love the pigs and the sheep!

Even Izzy was there!

 Not too fond of the smell in here... kinda smells like a pig sty.  Go figure.

 Grandpa Jim, probably being a good influence on his grandchildren...

 Sisters-in-law.

Always the favorite child.

 Spent lots of time with big cousin Mason.

Whining at me.  Typical.  Haha!

 Catchin' a ride at the carnival!

 This biker girl needs just a few tats to make this perfect.

 Adam Michael on a motorcycle, looking very cheesy.

Crossing the creek on the trip back up to Montana.

Adam needed some assistance from Grandpa Bill.

Backyard swimming pool time with the Clayburn girls!

Taking a summer break with Grandpa Bill and almost all his grandkids...

Brookie B brightly dressed for a fun day!

Down by the water again with Aunt Kelly, this time catching some crawfish!

And the youngest Clayburn, Alexis, recently arrived to enjoy the end of another Montana summer.

So glad we got to see them all, and hope everyone can come visit us some time, once we get where we're going! 

Gardens and Scenic Byways

A few things have been going on around here, so I’d kind of forgotten that we had some pictures to post on here.  Earlier this month we took a trip up to the Red Butte Gardens on the northeast end of town because, well, they were having a free day and normally it would have been out of our price range.  Becky found it online and wanted to check it out since it’s a botanical garden filled with all sorts of flowers, plants, and other things that grow up from the ground and look and smell nice.  Sounds exciting, right?  I thought so, and since it wasn’t going to cost anything, I decided to go along.

 Paul was looking very Adam-like here.

And Adam... was looking... very Adam-like.

Not sure why they were talking about bison, we didn't see any.

Nor did we see any moose, but the boys enjoyed climbing on this.

 Adam paused to enjoy the refreshments.

But he may have gotten carried away with the whole water drinking thing.

 Then he climbed on some big lizards.  Pretty... cool...

 

A week or so after that, we took a drive down south toward Provo and took the Nebo Scenic Route.  It was a beautiful scenic byway and would have been a great time had it not rained most of the day.  We still got a break from the rain for a moment and took a short hike to the Grotto Falls to take a few pictures of this cool little waterfall.  Pretty nice, and it would be great to go back when the fall colors change everything, but… I don’t think we’ll make it back this year.

So that’s it for now, though we should have a few more pictures of Utah before we head out.  Turns out, our Utah adventure didn’t last as long as we thought it would.  We were planning on sticking it out for quite a while, but there were other plans for us I guess.  We leave next weekend on our fourth cross-country adventure, and this time back to where we first went.  We’ll be in Georgia, close to Jacksonville for six months, and then it’s down to the Gulf and Corpus Christi, Texas.  Never would have expected it, but we’re excited for what’s ahead.  Wish us luck, as we travel on…

Battle at the Creek

Down on the way to Provo there’s a town below the mountains called Pleasant Grove.  We drove down the other day to do a little day hike up to a waterfall at a place called Battle Creek.  I’d never heard of it, but the waterfall looked nice, so we decided to check it out.  The Battle Creek site wasn’t much to see, but of course, due to the fact that an actual battle took place there, I had to learn about it.  Turns out, some dirty Indians (uh, misunderstood Native Americans, I mean) stole some of Brigham Young’s horses back in the pioneer days, and he decided to send the Mormon militia to take care of it.  Truth be told, they never actually stole any horses, but the Mormons ambushed and killed them anyway.  They snuck up on them around dusk and surrounded them, throwing rocks at the women and children who were hiding in the freezing creek, and shooting the men as they tried to run away.  Yeah.  Real Mormon Medal of Honor winners these guys were.  Anyway, it was a good short hike and made for more pictures.  

Stopped for a moment at this bridge over the creek.  Paul used his make-shift fishing poles to catch make-believe fish.

Adam labored up the trail with his rocks.  He did a pretty good job overall, not too much whining!

And, as always, got his hands dirty.

The boys up by the falling water.

Good times, good hike, good waterfall.  Just watch out for the Mormon militia if you're up there and you've been stealing their horses. 

Look over the overlook!

A couple weeks ago we took a little drive up the harrowing Butterfield Canyon road west of Herriman, all the way to the top of the Oquirrh Mountains to the Kennecott Mine overlook.  It was one of those old logging-type roads where the edge drops off to certain death if you decide to slide off it.  Becky wasn’t too thrilled, but I thought the views were pretty amazing.  We wound our way up until the dirt road twisted its way to the top where there was a small parking spot looking out over the Salt Lake valley to the east, and the Tooele valley to the west.  And directly below us was the massive Kennecott mine.  Pretty cool view, and pretty cool weather surprisingly.  The rain drops started to fall on us, and the wind was slightly chilly.  At 9,000 feet high it’s still cold, even in July I guess.  Here are a few photos.

 You can't have a lunch meat sandwich without Mayo! Duh!

They had to complain about the weather... should have brought the winter coats I guess.  But hiding in the trunk of the car works too.

 I can see my cousin's house from here!

This is it!  This is the top!  Let's find a higher mountain to climb now!

 Paul and Dad, braving the cold to reach the summit!

And Adam Michael, taking a look down into the mine.  Throw all the rocks you want, just don't fall in, Adam!  Another fun day trip, and not too far to get there... can't beat that.